A fire at a power substation left nine thousand residents without power last night.
Thousands of families across Wickford and Basildon were affected due to the fire at the site in Gardiners Lane South, Basildon at about 10pm.
UK Power Networks confirmed the incident after a number of residents took to Facebook to post about a lose of power.
There was also an unrelated power cut this morning affecting parts of Wickford, Shotgate, Rawreth, Battlesbridge and Hullbridge.
A UK Power Networks spokesman said: "Power has been restored after a fire at a substation in Basildon interrupted supplies to several thousand customers in South Essex at 10.18pm last night. Engineers restored supplies in stages with all but 132 customers back on by 10.46pm, within half an hour of the incident. The final five customers off supply were restored at 11.27pm last night.
READ MORE >>>
- South Essex customers hit by morning power cut
- Paedo who sexually assaulted teen in south Essex jailed for 17 years
"The damage to our electrical equipment is being assessed. All supplies are restored. The number of customers impacted when the incident happened was around nine thousand, but this figure dropped quickly as power was restored in stages by our engineers.
"Separately, UK Power Networks engineers worked quickly and safely to repair an underground cable fault in Wickford and restore power supplies to 26 customers by 11am today. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
"
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here